Shattered
by Scarlet Phlame
Summary: As the wind picks up the rotten leaves and sweeps them around the floor of the drafty castle, one woman stands, looking through her window. Outside, a village can be seen, children running around, gleefully shouting and playing, despite the icy bitterness of the winter, and the darkness stretching across the land. Oneshot. Retelling of the original fairytale, Snow White.


As the wind picks up the rotten leaves and sweeps them around the floor of the drafty castle, one woman stands, watching everything through her window.

Outside, a village can be seen, children running around, gleefully shouting and playing, despite the icy bitterness of the winter, and the darkness stretching across the land.

Her name? Hmph, no one knows it. She is known only as the Evil Queen. Everyone loathes her, of course, like she's the dirt on the ground instead of the Queen of the entire kingdom. And everyone treats that "loathsome little bug," Snow White, like she's a princess.

Which she is, and the Queen has to admit it. She IS a princess, and though those rags can hide her outward beauty, she knows someone will see her inner beauty, her clean, pure soul, her true kindness and love. After all, she, herself, has seen that very beauty.

She was like the daughter she never had, just so happy, smiling no matter what, even if invisible darkness was looming over the land. Her daughter, the optimistic, royal, fairest of all.

The Queen clenches a fist on the rough parchment letter she has just received, clenching her teeth in anger. It's a letter, that letter that has changed everything, that letter that will destroy her.

The letter from her mother.

My dear child, as you know, I will be traveling the lands and will arrive at the Dark Palace in a day. I hope you understand that that flake of Snow must be dead by the time I arrive, or you will deeply regret it. If I plan on taking over the realms, she must be destroyed. She is the only thing that can defeat me, and you know it.

That was all the letter said. That one, simple paragraph, one simple scribble, jumble of terrifying words echo around in the Queen's skull painfully. She is the only thing that can defeat me, and you know it.

She shakes her head, she doesn't want to do this. She has no choice, she knows, though, because her mother will come, come and kill her if she doesn't do this, and the land will only collapse into further darkness, sinking away into the deep abyss of the sea. Lost, gone. In a way, the land would end up exactly like her.

She's lost, confused, only a child. She never wanted to marry the King, of course, but her mother forced her to. It's that manipulative snake that pushes her to do everything against her will. She should stand up for what is right, she should stand up for Snow, she pities the poor girl, in a way, but her mother has forced her to keep her beauty hidden so no one will recognize her.

So no one will miss her when she's wiped off the face of the earth.

She trembles slightly, and a tiny ice-cold tear dashes down her cheek and freezes in mid-air, shattering across the hard, unforgiving surface of the stony palace ground. This is like a nightmare, and she pleads with herself for once to stand up against her mother, to fight for what she knows is right.

But she can't.

She remembers his face, the face of the man she loved long ago, once upon a time. He's long gone, of course, but that's only because of her mother.

Gone.

She swallows hard, and out of the corner of her tear-filled eye, she spots Snow White, singing by the well once more. She smiles to herself despite the situation, but her heart aches and her soul seems to dissipate and scatter away from her cold grasp.

The sound of quiet footsteps nearby makes her freeze, and wipe away the frozen tears. She pretends to be regal, pretends to have only been thinking hard on a simple subject, or maybe not thinking at all. After all, women aren't supposed to think.

She can see the fear in his eyes, see him watching her every movement warily.

She knows how much she terrifies people.

"Call my brother, the huntsman," she whispers to the guard who has just entered her chamber, and he nods simply and scurries out of the room.

It's her mother's fault she's known as the Evil Queen.

Her mother has been the one working day and night to take over all the kingdoms, and, she knows in reality that she's just another pawn, just someone else for her mother to blame while she stays in the darkness.

She laughs, bitterly, because the land is already shrouded in darkness. There is nowhere left to go, there is nowhere left to hide.

Not even for herself.

"Your Majesty?" the huntsman, her brother, calls to her, and she turns, her cape billowing in the quiet room.

"Henry." She smiles simply at him, something she can never do in front of anyone else, she can't break the facade that her mother has created for her. "Can you..." She makes a helpless gesture. "...bring me the heart of Snow White?"

Henry knows the truth, too, and he sees the pain in her eyes, but he would die for her.

She would die for him, too, even if he doesn't know it.

He nods simply. "It will be done, Your Majesty." He bows simply, and she frowns.

"I- I told you not to call me that." He smiles weakly at her, and she knows that she shouldn't pull him into this, but she can't bring herself to kill Snow.

As he leaves the room, she shakily collapses onto the rough, jagged stone surface of the palace floor.

* * *

Henry is dead.

The news courses through the land, and in the middle of it all, the story changes.

In truth, she didn't kill him.

Her mother, however, did.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall..." The face of her mother appears in the glassy surface, and she tries not to scream. "Mother." She swallows, hard, like she's been eating glue. Her eyes are bloodshot and puffy from endless hours of crying, and her raven-black hair is in disarray. "Henry is dead."

Her mother simply laughs. Laughs, despite the darkness of the situation.

Laughs.

"My darling, of course I know that," she croons, waving a hand dismissively and eyeing her like a vulture. "I was the one who killed him."

The Queen freezes, and her eyes glint with rage.

"Y- you didn't."

Her mother laughs again, the shattering sound of it echoing hollowly around the desolate and lonely room.

"Oh, you don't think people just GET heart attacks out of the blue? No, darling, I know he failed you. I suppose it is time for you to take matters into your own hands, from now on."

The image of her mother fades away, and, in frustration, she shatters the glass with one swift movement of her hand.

The broken pieces of glass clash with the stone floor, and an ear-twisting sound is emitted throughout the castle walls.

She's the Queen, but in reality, she's like the unforgiving surface of a shattered mirror. She's broken.

* * *

The Queen's mother is dead, now.

She fooled Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, pretending to be a old woman.

She fell off a cliff, that's what the Queen heard, at least.

It's all over.

Later, in the news, right in the column next to the heading announcing Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, is an article on The Dark Queen.

Of course, all that story was was a lie.

As for the Queen, she fled the country and was never seen again.

The true story of Snow White will remain forevermore in darkness.


End file.
